Staying long-term vegan

I’ve been vegan for more than 2.5 years now. So far it’s been wonderful. I like the eco-awareness that goes into everyday actions.I recently spoke with a high-authority guy in the Indian dairy industry, and his statements only re-confirmed for me the cruelty involved in dairy production these days and the high processing and reduction in quality of dairy produced. There’s no moral smugness (I hope!), but a silent satisfaction that, in some way at least I am reducing the suffering in our world.

I’ve enjoyed superb health benefits from the diet aspect–increased stamina, better immunity, almost-zero tummy upsets.

But the vegan diet has also been challenging. As my knowledge of nutrition deepens, I find that maintaining a vegan diet long-term brings its health challenges; I’ll list the ones other than Vitamin B12:

Calcium: The vegan literature tells us we find enough calcium from plants because cows also get their calcium from plants. Which plants? Spinach, they tell us, isn’t a particularly good source because it contains oxalic acid, which inhibits calcium absorption. Sesame seeds, they tell us, probably isn’t one either, because it contains too many phytosterols or whatever–and maybe contains too much iron to block out calcium absorption. They tell us kale, collard greens, and turnip greens are really cool sources. Problem is, I don’t know what these leafy veggies translate to in my language, and am not even sure they’re available where I live. Then they tell us to drink fortified soymilk. But I don’t consider soy-milk to be food, and my experiments with consuming any fortified foods has always made me feel really tired and groggy afterward. I am trying to find my way around it. So far it has involved rediscovering my magical favorite grain, the finger millet (ragi), and increasing my consumption of it along with some coconut/saturated fat (which somehow seems to help with assimilation of calcium).

Vitamin A: I thought I was getting enough Vitamin A until recently, when I read that plant sources contain only Beta-carotene, which 40% of the population does a really poor job of converting into Vitamin A. The problem is that there’s no real way of knowing if you are one of those people; besides, there are precious little signs of deficiency of this vitamin. Foods fortified with this vitamin is one way around this problem; but the fortified foods use a synthetic version of this Vitamin, which might have problematic long-term effects. Like Vitamin A, vegans (especially the fat-phobic ones) are also prone to getting less of vitamins D, E, K (all of which require fat to be effectively absorbed).

Omega-3 fatty acids: It wasn’t until I literally felt the brain-boost from eating a pumpkin-coconut curry that I realized I may have been deficient. Vegan males are known to be particularly prone to Omega-3 deficiencies, because unlike vegan women they have no evolutionary advantage. The omega-3 from plant sources needs to be converted into a different form to be usable by the body, and apparently vegans (no matter the confusing literature) don’t do too well. From personal experience, eating saturated fats seem to enhance the conversion and absorption of these important fatty acids–and vegans are notorious for their avoidance of saturated fat, which they (mistakenly) believe increases cholesterol and heart disease. The good news is that vegan versions of the needed omega-3 fatty acids, made from algae (from where the fish get theirs), are becoming available. But I haven’t found a version where I live, yet. What I did find was a very convenient way to get it–it was right under my nose. The popular South-Indian breakfast items, idli and dosa, when had with chutney, can provide reasonably adequate amounts, in addition to providing protein, zinc, B-vitamins, and possibly even B12. And my favorite Appam and Veg Stew probably provides even more nutrition (and taste). This discovery has really made me appreciate Indian dietary traditions–they, who must have known rather little of these individual nutrients, had yet come up with these unique ways of preparation that nourish and please.

Then there’s zinc, and iron, and so on.

It’s also problematic that being vegan promotes a high-carbohydrate diet and over-reliance on starches/grains (unless one is doing high amounts of fermented soy products). High amounts of starch and fiber in the absence of high protein seem to be detrimental to the digestion, while also promoting cravings. And grains, unless well prepared using methods such as soaking and fermenting, seem to be problematic to the absorption of other nutrients as well, besides being acidic in nature and requiring strongly alkaline elements (such as calcium), and maybe some fat (to buffer the protein) to balance their acidity and prevent them from compromising physical and dental health.

There might also be as yet undiscovered elements that the human body requires and are not found in plant foods.

This is where I have to admit that adding the wee bit of dairy and/or eggs in extremely limited amounts (like a cup of milk or an egg a week) can remove the reliance on supplements and enhance health too, while adding variety and also making the diet easier to maintain.

This will help in two ways:

- Prevent people who enthusiastically jumped into a vegan diet with no knowledge of nutrition from discarding overnight vegan-ism and vegetarianism, and with it the compassion that apparently drove them to being vegan in the first place.

- Actually help reduce animal suffering. Vegans do their own health a great benefit (if they supplement heavily), but do little to actively reduce animal suffering. In India at least, dairy production was far, far less cruel than it is today, and vegans can do their bit to help improve dairy production standards. This is something non-vegans can identify with (for who isn’t concerned with their health and the quality of food they eat). It paves the way for a transition towards less cruelty. And promotes inclusiveness, not exclusivity.

I sometimes wonder what I would do if I were averse to the humble yet mighty coconut, had little access to it, or had a body type that required severely limiting its presence in my diet–my current Vata-type (acc. to Ayurveda) seems suited for moderate to high inclusion of coconut in my diet, so I’m good. So far.

I’ve tried replacing the coconut with high amounts of nuts–which seems to have other negative side effects, or with high amounts of greens–which seems to have negative side effects too. I believe that, for optimal health, saturated fat and/or monounsaturated fat must make up a large portion of the fat one consumes.

More later. I would love to hear your experiences.